


The Lion and His Pride

by missblue2807



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Hearbreak, Hope, Remembrance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:21:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22782442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missblue2807/pseuds/missblue2807
Summary: Five years after the war, Lysandra and Aedion find out they're expecting. But since hearing the news, Aedion has been plagued with nightmares of his father’s death. One morning, he goes searching for answers.
Relationships: Aedion Ashryver & Gavriel, Aedion Ashryver/Gavriel, Aedion Ashryver/Lysandra
Comments: 10
Kudos: 40





	The Lion and His Pride

_Aedion froze as he saw that golden light fade over the gate. There—and then gone. A cold chill slithered down his spine as he realized what that meant._

_His father was gone. Dead, because of those rutting Valg soldiers._

_He could hardly hear his screaming over the blood pounding in his ears as he rushed over to the gate. His legs slipped on each rung of the ladder, but he managed to pull himself to the top. Only to look down and see—_

Aedion jolted up in bed and looked around in the dim light, trying to figure out where he was. No, it wasn’t that gods-awful battlefield that sealed his fate forever. He was in bed. At Aelin’s castle in Orynth. He soon realized that he was coated in his own sweat, not blood. From that rutting night terror that had been plaguing him since—

He looked down at his wife, Lysandra, sleeping soundly, her round belly taking up half of the bed. Since he’d found out she was expecting. That day had been the happiest day of his life, besides their wedding. They had been sitting in their newly planted garden, his arm wrapped around her as they soaked up the midday sun in Caraverre. 

“It’s so peaceful and quiet,” she had murmured, grabbing Aedion’s hand. “I’m going to miss it.”

Not catching on, Aedion had responded, “We have forever here. You and me.”

She looked up to him, a mischievous gleam in her eye Aedion had not seen since before the war. “Oh, I know. I’m just not sure how quiet it is going to be when our babe arrives.” 

Then she had intertwined their fingers and rested them on her flat abdomen. Aedion’s blood had frozen as he took in what she was implying, a slow smile creeping onto both of their faces. Aedion had smiled every day since, talking to his wife’s stomach each night before bed as he recounted that day’s adventures. But since that day, Aedion had also been haunted with the same nightmare, reliving a moment he had been trying to forget since. The worst part was knowing that there was some reason why he was suddenly having dreams about his father…especially when his child’s birth was only days away. 

Well, he certainly wasn’t going to back to sleep now. Sunrise was still a couple hours off, but he rolled out of bed anyway, tugging on a gray tunic and pants. He walked around to the other side of the bed, kneeling beside his wife. He brushed her bed-messy hair out of her face, kissing her forehead. 

“I’ll be back,” he whispered.

Lysandra sighed and rolled over, spreading out and taking the whole bed to herself. Despite his mood, Aedion smiled slightly to himself. 

“Bed hog.”

Lysandra grumbled something inaudible in response. 

Aedion took the back stairs out of the castle, quietly walking past the night guards, nodding to each of them who held a questioning visage. He was fine, it told them. He just needed some air. A guard silently held the doors open for him as he stepped into the brisk, early-morning breeze. It was chilly for this late in the spring, and he had to suppress his shivers as he took the hike to the grassy plain he had not walked to in ages. 

The old battlefield, after being cleaned up and groomed, now stood as a memorial for all Orynth had lost—and survived. It’s popularity had died down a bit five years after the war, but there was always someone standing vigil with candlelight. This early in the morning, though, Aedion was alone. Almost. To his right was the Gate of Orynth. Standing tall beside it was a statue of the Lion.

A statue of his father.

He had not been here since it had been built. That day had been joyous. So many had gathered around as Aelin proudly unveiled the first monument on the battlefield. She had explained what Gavriel had sacrificed—how many he had saved. The people clapped and cheered as Aedion and his cousin had pulled the sheet off the bronze carving. Aedion had almost declined the offer to reveal it, but something urged him to be there, to stay strong, and to celebrate the life his father had let him live.

Now, Aedion reached out and scraped his fingers across the plaque inscribed with:

_GAVRIEL—THE LION SAVIOR OF THE GATE OF ORYNTH_

Emotion caught in his throat, and he let a cry out from the back of his throat. This—these nightmares—it was guilt that was riding him. Guilt that he had not known his father, and when he finally had an opportunity, he threw it away. Guilt that Aedion had been there on that fateful day and could not save him.

His father.

His father had died because of him. Died and never knew the truth of how his son felt. 

And Aedion did not want to be the same way with his child. How could he be a father when he hadn’t known his own?

Aedion collapsed to his knees in the dirt and wept.

—

Silent as a cat, Gavriel walked across the field. Walking wasn’t quiet the right world, as his phantom feet did not touch the soil, but rather floated across. He did not know why he was there, but he had been summoned, pulled. Like a string was tied to a rib. He followed the calling until he found himself in front of the Gate of Orynth. He knew it was his memorial—had been there when it was revealed, standing beside his son, hoping that, somehow, Aedion could feel his steady presence. 

But—down on his knees, Aedion was crying, his shoulders shaking with thundering sobs. Gavriel could tell Aedion had not let himself release this emotion that was trapped in him. He had let it build and build, slowly bearing down on him until he broke. Gavriel almost turned away, feeling as though intruding, before he remembered that Aedion could not see him or hear him. He didn’t even know of his father’s presence in that moment. It still surprised Gavriel, even after five years in the after life, that he was invisible. That he could not touch anything, that no one in the living realm could know that he was there. 

As if suddenly sensing his presence, Aedion sharply lifted his head, wiping his eyes. “Gods, what am I doing here,” he muttered to himself, sniffling. 

He looked over his shoulder as if making sure no one saw him and met Gavriel’s eyes. _He cannot see me_. Though Aedion’s gaze was so steady it was almost like he could. Slowly, his gaze moved away, meeting the eyes of the lion statue. 

“Hello,” Aedion began slowly, hesitant. “I don’t know if you can hear me, or if you are watching this all with amusement. I’m talking to a statue, for gods’ sakes. Er—“ Aedion looked down, shaking his head. “Shit. I don’t know where to begin. Lysandra is pregnant, if you did not know. The babe is to be born in a few days, actually. And—I’m scared. Terrified, really. I never grew up with…you…and—I don’t know what it’s like to have a father. I had my uncle Rhoe to look up to as I grew up, but… It just wasn’t the same. I knew he was not my real father. I had assumed you were wandering the world, completely unaware that I existed. Which was the case, I guess, but I always dreamed of the day you would show up at the palace and announce that you had a son who you presumed lived there, and you had been hunting the earth trying to find me ever since the day you found out I was alive.”

Aedion cleared his throat as a fresh wave of tears pricked the back of his eyes. “You never showed. And when the massacre happened, after Aelin went missing, I gave up all hope in you. I joined the cause and fought my way to the top of the army. It wasn’t only a distraction. I did it because I always figured you were a warrior, and I wanted to be just like you. Even then, when I still had no hope for you. And then one day, you did show up. When I saw you that morning in Skull’s Bay, my heart thrummed because you were alive and here and _my father_. And then I hated that you showed up in that moment, when I really needed you so many years before then. I shunned you, turned away at every opportunity, hoping you would feel guilty for leaving my mother. I wanted you to feel as terrible as I had all those years without you in my life. Yet, you still fought for me…To the very end.

“I hope you know I will never forget what you did. That you sacrificed yourself for a son that hated you. I’ve had these—dreams. Terrors. I keep replaying that moment in my mind, when you were helpless and I couldn’t save you. It’s been eating me up…That you died and didn’t know that my whole life I had been searching for you, even when I didn’t know I was. I didn’t hate you. I know now that what you did was not in pride but in hope that I would have a future ahead of me. I would do the same for the life growing in my wife’s womb.”

Gavriel walked to his son. His pride. Placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. 

Aedion blinked. “Father,” he whispered, brushing his fingers along his own shoulder. 

He had never addressed Gavriel that way before he died. “My son,” he whispered back.

Aedion let loose another sob, but he smiled through the tears. Happiness. Pure and utter joy flowed from Gavriel to his son. 

He was running out of time. Gavriel could feel his grip on this realm fading, but he squeezed Aedion’s shoulder one last time, hoping that this would work. That he could take his son’s pain away. 

—

The dark blue sky of dawn grew brighter as the sun peeked above the horizon. Aedion gathered himself, coming back onto his feet. He turned around and headed back towards the castle, feeling lighter than he had in months. He knew he had not imagined his father’s presence in that moment. Aedion allowed himself one last look back at the statue. He could not see it happen, but with the rising sun, Gavriel’s spirit faded away, bringing Aedion’s night terrors with him. 


End file.
